Through Thick and Thin
by M.D.1934
Summary: One shot... Moze is having family problems and Ned is there to help her through.


This is another Ned's story I decided to write. Unlike my last story...the characters may not resemble themselves as much. I am going to be going deeper into their personalities then the writers do on the show. And they aren't dating. The 8th grade trip never happened and Suzie never came back. So please read and review.

Jennifer Mosely closed her eyes and began to rub her temples. She was trying to study for a big test tomorrow and her parents wouldn't shut up! They had been fighting so much lately, Moze was half wishing that they would get a divorce already. Her big brother Josh, tended to make the same mistake over and over again, by getting into the middle of their fights. Moze knew that Josh was trying to get them to stop fighting. Mostly for her sake. She loved him for trying.

Her eyes jolted open when she heard glass break. At this rate she was going to fail all her finals and be held back in the 8th grade. She could hear Josh screaming at her dad, then her mom was screaming at Josh for screaming at her dad.

"Don't you know what this fighting is doing to Jen? To me?" Moze heard Josh shout from downstairs. She had never heard him so mad before.

Moze let out a goan and stood up. She wasn't going to be able to study until tonight when her parents went to sleep. That was when she normally got everything done anyways. She was now used to only getting 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night. She grabbed her red jacket off of her bed and walked down the stairs.

"I'm going for a walk." She called over her sholder as she walked out the front door.

They most likely didn't hear her, and if they did they wouldn't care. Moze figured that she could run away and none of her family would notice for days. She looked to her right at her best friend's house. She considered going there for a second, but at the last moment she went left and began to aimlessly walk.

Her aimless walk ended up taking her to a park a few blocks away from her house. She absent mindedly went over and sat on a swing. She and Ned used to come her all the time when they were little. Matter of fact this is where they had met Cookie. Moze's lips pulled into a small smile. It was the first time that she smiled in days.

She began to kick her feet so that the swing would move. She began to think about everything that was happening. Her parents were fighting. Lots of people's parents fight all the time. But this was getting bad. Her parents weren't paying any attention to her at all. She now had to cook all her meals and clean all her clothes. It wasn't like she never did chores or anything but it is the fact that her parents didn't do anything for her anymore.

She had been forced to stay up at all hours of the night to get her homework done. It was the only time it was quiet. She would go to the library, but it closed at 5:00 everyday so she didn't have enough time to get everything done. She wished that she could just go over to Ned's house. But she couldn't risk anything. She didn't want him or anyone else to know what was going on. She didn't want to talk about it or have some social worker come knocking on her doorstep. She just wanted to get through this year and then let things die down.

It had been very hard to keep it a secret though. She had to keep making excuses for why Ned and Cookie couldn't come over. She pretended to fall asleep at Ned's so she could stay the night. Unluckily for her, Ned was observant when it came to her. He noticed that she was acting strange. He kept asking her what was wrong, and she always had another lie waitng.

It was dark and cold. She sighed and stood up off the swing. After taking one last look around she began her slow walk home. The whole way back she thought of Ned. She really wished she had the courage to tell him. But right now she wanted what was best for him. She wanted him to focus on passing his finals not worring about her. And it wasn't like she would have to go and lie forever. They weren't going to fight forever...would they?

Her thoughts were lost when she reached her house.

"Ned? What are you doing here?" Moze asked. "Shouldn't you be studying?"

Ned gave a small smile. "I just came to see you. Josh told me you went for a walk. I figured I would wait for you."

Moze's heart began to speed up. "S-so what did you want?"

Ned walked even closer to her. "I just wanted to spend some time with you. Am I not allowed to do that?"

Moze did nothing but nod.

_' Why am I unable to think? It's like my brain turned to fruit salad or something! '_

"So would you like to come over?" Ned asked.

Moze could do nothing but stare into his eyes. Even in the dark his eyes still seemed to glow.

_' Look away from the eyes and speak! Speak Moze speak! '_

"Ye- yeah, but it's kinda late."

Ned gave a small smile and held up a bag in his hand. "I thought you could stay over. I already grabbed some clothes and all your books. I hope you don't mind."

Moze smiled. "No, no that's fine. I just need to tell my parents-"

"- they already know Moze."

Moze looked him in the face and knew she couldn't hide this any longer. "You know don't you?"

Ned nodded.

"Well then I guess that we have some talking do to then don't we?"

Ned walked over to her and put his arm around her sholders. "We don't have to. There are reasons you didn't want people to know. Reasons you didn't want _me _to know."

They walked over to Ned's house in silent. Moze went and sat on the couch and as soon as Ned locked the door he joined her. He sat down right next to her. Extremely close Moze noticed.

Moze felt her heart sink. "I'm sorry Ned. I thought that if I told you, you would worry about me. I didn't want you to forget to study or forget something else important."

Ned grabbed her hands. Moze jumped. "Don't you get it? I'm your best friend. You should never be afraid to tell me anything. As for worring about you...I do it all the time, and yet I manage to get things done. It's part of my job decription."

Moze smiled. "Thank-you. I really wonder how I got so lucky to have you as a friend."

Ned chuckled. Beats the heck outta me." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Get some sleep ok?"

Moze nodded as she streatched out on the couch. She looked back at Ned to see him sitting in the chair with a pillow and blanket.

"What are you doing Ned?"

He smiled warmly at her. "Doing my job."

"Ned you don't have to-"

"-I want to Moze. I want to be here for you."

_' He is so sweet! Oh my god! I just had an epiphany! I like Ned! Oh boy this is going to be...well don't just sit there and do nothing! '_

"Ned I honestly don't know what I would do without you. But you desevere to be comfortable."

He shook his head. "I'm fine, now go to sleep."

"What I'm trying to say is," she took a deep breath, "there's room on the couch if you wanted to come join me."

Ned stared at her for a moment before grinning like an idiot. He grabbed his things and walked over to her.

Moze sat up and Ned sat behind her. He got comfortable and Moze leaned back. He held her protectively in his arms.

"Good night." He said after a couple a minutes.

It fell on deaf ears...she was already asleep.

Moze stayed at Ned's house the last few days of school. They began to grow closer and closer. People began to wonder if they were dating, but they never asked. Ned and Moze got off the bus. School was finally over and they were on their way to high school. Moze got ready to ask Ned what he wanted to do when she saw Josh running towards her.

"Jen...hey can I talk to you for a sec?" Josh asked when he caught up to them.

"Yeah." She saw his eyes flicker to Ned. "Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of Ned."

Josh nodded then spoke. "Look...mom and dad...they're finally splitting up. Dad's moving all his stuff out. Is there any ways you can stay at Ned's again. I really don't want you to be there while this goes on."

Moze looked towards Ned who nodded. "Yeah I'll stay with Ned."

Josh leaned forward to kiss Moze on the forehead. "Take care of my sister Ned."

Ned smiled. "I will."

Josh walked away and Moze turned to Ned.

"Thank you for everything." Moze said sincerly.

Ned reached forward and grabbed her hand.

"You're welcome."

_' It's now or never. '_

Moze leaned in and covered Ned's lips with her own. It was better than any kiss they have shared before. Moze's thought her knees might give away, until Ned's arms wrapped around her waist. Slowly they broke apart.

"I guess that's another secret that's out in the open."

Ned nodded. "So are you going to be okay with this? You're parents I mean."

Moze thought about it for a moment. "I think it will be hard at first. But I'll get through it. Want to know why?"

"Why?"

She smiled and kissed him again. "I have you."

A goofy grin spread across his face as he leaned in to kiss her once again.

"Through thick and thin."


End file.
